CVE-2025-39886

  • Published: 2025-09-23T06:15:48.680

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

bpf: Tell memcg to use allow_spinning=false path in bpf_timer_init()

Currently, calling bpf_map_kmalloc_node() from __bpf_async_init() can
cause various locking issues; see the following stack trace (edited for
style) as one example:


[10.011566] do_raw_spin_lock.cold
[10.011570] try_to_wake_up (5) double-acquiring the same
[10.011575] kick_pool rq_lock, causing a hardlockup
[10.011579] __queue_work
[10.011582] queue_work_on
[10.011585] kernfs_notify
[10.011589] cgroup_file_notify
[10.011593] try_charge_memcg (4) memcg accounting raises an
[10.011597] obj_cgroup_charge_pages MEMCG_MAX event
[10.011599] obj_cgroup_charge_account
[10.011600] __memcg_slab_post_alloc_hook
[10.011603] __kmalloc_node_noprof

[10.011611] bpf_map_kmalloc_node
[10.011612] __bpf_async_init
[10.011615] bpf_timer_init (3) BPF calls bpf_timer_init()
[10.011617] bpf_prog_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_fcg_runnable
[10.011619] bpf__sched_ext_ops_runnable
[10.011620] enqueue_task_scx (2) BPF runs with rq_lock held
[10.011622] enqueue_task
[10.011626] ttwu_do_activate
[10.011629] sched_ttwu_pending (1) grabs rq_lock

The above was reproduced on bpf-next (b338cf849ec8) by modifying
./tools/sched_ext/scx_flatcg.bpf.c to call bpf_timer_init() during
ops.runnable(), and hacking the memcg accounting code a bit to make
a bpf_timer_init() call more likely to raise an MEMCG_MAX event.

We have also run into other similar variants (both internally and on
bpf-next), including double-acquiring cgroup_file_kn_lock, the same
worker_pool::lock, etc.

As suggested by Shakeel, fix this by using __GFP_HIGH instead of
GFP_ATOMIC in __bpf_async_init(), so that e.g. if try_charge_memcg()
raises an MEMCG_MAX event, we call __memcg_memory_event() with
@allow_spinning=false and avoid calling cgroup_file_notify() there.

Depends on mm patch
“memcg: skip cgroup_file_notify if spinning is not allowed”:
https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20250905201606.66198-1-shakeel.butt@linux.dev/

v0 approach s/bpf_map_kmalloc_node/bpf_mem_alloc/
https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20250905061919.439648-1-yepeilin@google.com/
v1 approach:
https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20250905234547.862249-1-yepeilin@google.com/

Related CVE by CWE

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How to fix CVE-2025-39886

CVE-2025-39886 is a unknown severity vulnerability affecting the affected product.

Description: In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: bpf: Tell memcg to use allow_spinning=false path in bpf_timer_init() Currently, calling bpf_map_kmalloc_node() from __bpf_async_init() can cause various locking issues; see the following stack trace (edited for style) as one example: … [10.011566] do_raw_spin_lock.cold [10.011570] try_to_wake_up (5) double-acquiring the same [10.011575] kick_pool rq_lock, causing a hardlockup […]

Exploit Difficulty: HARD
⏱️ Time to exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Required skills: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public exploits: Rare or not public

How to Fix:

1 Identify affected systems

- Check if you're running the affected product

2 Immediate actions

- Update to the latest patched version
- If patching is not immediately possible: restrict network exposure, apply least-privilege access

3 Verification

- Test the fix in a staging environment first
- Review logs for signs of exploitation
- Monitor for IOCs (Indicators of Compromise)

4 Long-term prevention

- Enable automatic security updates
- Set up vulnerability monitoring
- Review and harden security configurations

Vendor Advisory: https://lore.kernel.org/bpf/20250905201606.66198-1-shakeel.butt@linux.dev/

Exploit Difficulty Assessment

HARD
⏱️ Time to Exploit: > 4 hours
🛠️ Skills Required: Advanced security expertise
💰 Public Exploits: Rare or not public

Vulnerability Timeline

Sep 23, 2025
Vulnerability Published

CVE details first published to NVD database

Nov 12, 2025
Imported to Database

Added to this CVE tracking system

Detection Rules & IOCs

No specific detection rules generated for this vulnerability type.

No vendor/product data available.